


Be Brave

by cnell



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-21
Updated: 2013-04-22
Packaged: 2017-12-09 02:21:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/768856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cnell/pseuds/cnell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Bennet family deals with a medical emergency. Takes place a year or so after LBD.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Lydia made it there first, because she was in class only a few miles away when her mother called. It was a heart attack, she said, a bad one. Things got incoherent after that. 

There were nine traffic lights between the community college and the hospital. Lydia ran four of them.

Her mother’s sobs were audible from the end of the corridor, making Lydia’s knees shake. She reached the waiting room and found her hunched over in a row of plastic chairs, twisting an embroidered handkerchief into knots.

“He wouldn’t answer me,” her mother kept saying.

Nurses brought them cups of water and explained what was happening in the emergency room, but the cold fear in Lydia’s chest made it impossible to think. She wanted her father - she wanted Lizzie and Jane. She sat with her mother and tried not to cry. 

It took an endless hour for Lizzie to arrive. She had rushed out of a meeting in San Francisco and was still dressed in a light grey suit and heels, her hair pinned at the nape of her neck. 

The first thing she did was wrap her arms around her sister. Lydia clung to her, eyes squeezed shut. “I’m here,” Lizzie whispered. “It’ll be okay. I’m so sorry....”

By now no-one needed to ask if Darcy would be there. Lizzie was pacing the room typing into her phone when he appeared in the doorway, and for just a moment her shoulders slumped. She hugged him hard before pulling him out of the room, speaking low and fast. She returned alone, leaving Darcy to field calls in the corridor.

“William got Jane and Bing on a charter flight,” she said. “They’ll be here in about four hours. Aunt Phillips says she and Mary are on their way.” She sat next to her mother, pressing her hand. “Are you okay? Tell me what I can do.”

“He’s going to die,” her mother said, breaking into fresh tears. “I can’t manage without him.” 

Lydia pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face in the hollow of her arms. Lizzie forced a smile. “We don’t know that yet. Mom, I need you to calm down. Deep breaths, all right?”

“They’ll take the house from us before he’s cold in his grave, I know they will. Oh, Lizzie, what is to become of us all?”

“Don’t talk like that. We’re going to get through this.”

Soon Aunt Phillips arrived and smothered them all in hugs – even Darcy, who bore it with stoic composure. But before long she was hardly less upset than Mrs. Bennet and it was all Lizzie could do to keep them both from panicking. 

Mary pulled Lydia away and took her down two floors to the cafeteria, where she bought them hot chocolate and sat with her at one of the wobbly tables until their mugs got cold. 

Time dragged by. The nurses could tell them nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

There was no real reason to think everything would be okay just because Jane and Bing were there, but that didn’t stop everyone from brightening visibly the moment they arrived. Soon they were giving comfort as only they knew how, Jane checking on her sisters while Bing held Mrs. Bennet’s hand.

“He’s made it this far,” he told her, his voice steady and encouraging. “I think he has a fighting chance.” She relaxed a little then, even managed to return his smile. He had always been a champ at bedside manner, medical school or no. 

Without her mother to care for, Lizzie didn’t seem to know what to do with herself. She gave Jane another squeeze and peered into her face. “You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” Jane said. She was worried but calm, as always. “Bing and I can take over. Why don’t you just rest for a while?”

But Lizzie shook her head. “You’re tired too. I’ll get you guys some tea.” She walked briskly from the waiting room, wiping her palms against her skirt. Darcy exchanged a look with Jane and followed her.

Lydia couldn’t sit still either, and she was beginning to feel the hunger from missing dinner. She went after Lizzie to ask about the cafeteria, only to round a corner and find her sister crumpled against Darcy’s chest, sobbing into his shirt so no-one would hear her.

“I can’t do this.”

“Shh. Yes you can.”

Lydia stepped back out of sight, swallowing hard, then went back to the waiting room and sat down. It felt like a long time before Lizzie and Darcy returned, expression blank and shoulders square, carrying tea in Styrofoam cups. Darcy stayed near her the rest of the night. Neither of them spoke.

Sometime past midnight, the doctor came into the waiting room and closed the door. Lizzie put a steadying arm around Lydia’s shoulders, but now Lydia could see the exhaustion tugging at the corners of her mouth, and her white-knuckled grip on Darcy’s hand.

Mr Bennet had pulled through, the doctor said, and relief settled over the room like a cloud. The worst seemed to be over, though nothing was certain yet. It was best for them to get some sleep; they could visit him in the morning if all was well.

Aunt Phillips and Mary went home, promising to be back the next day. The rest of them crowded into the Bennet house for the night – “It will be a great comfort having you all near me,” Mrs. Bennet said. Lizzie and Darcy took the “meditation room,” huddled together in the narrow bed that had once been hers, while Bing camped on the couch downstairs so Jane could curl up with Lydia.

“I wish you didn’t live so far away,” Lydia said. She and Jane had piled all her extra pillows and old stuffed animals onto the bed and burrowed into them, like they used to do when they were kids. Kitty was curled into a fluffy ball between them.

“I know. Bing and I miss everyone so much.” Jane said their names like they were one word. _Bingandi._ “Why don’t you come visit us in New York again? I keep finding new things I want to show you.”

Lydia scooted closer and allowed herself to be lulled to sleep with stories about adorable cafes and Fifth Avenue department stores, but she couldn’t keep from thinking that Jane was going to leave again and never really come back. Sooner or later, everyone left.

Several times that night, she woke up thinking she heard voices across the hall. Close to dawn there was a short moan, as if Lizzie had called out in her sleep, and then Darcy’s deep murmur in reply. It made the following silence feel immense.


	3. Chapter 3

It was around six o’clock when Lydia crept downstairs. Jane was still asleep, but once the morning light started filling the room Lydia had given up trying. There were noises and coffee smells in the kitchen; maybe some company would take her mind off things.

But the only person in the kitchen was Darcy. He was seated at the island counter, turning his phone over in his hands. He started a bit when he saw her, though his greeting was friendly enough. “Lizzie will be down soon,” he said. “Bing is getting food for breakfast.”

Because there was nothing else to do that wasn’t rude, Lydia sat down across from him. “Is Lizzie okay?”

It was there in his face, the usual Don’t You Worry reply. Then he paused and thought better of it. “She had difficulty sleeping.”

Lydia fidgeted with her sleeves. That frightened cry in the middle of the night was still in her head. “She was always Dad’s—“ She stopped, scowled at herself. “I mean, she and him are....”

“I understand.” 

She flicked a glance at him. A line had deepened in his brow, but he didn’t look shocked or annoyed. Her next question was out of her mouth before she knew what she was doing. “Why was she hiding?”

Darcy straightened, then carefully placed his phone on the counter. “You saw,” he said, and frowned when she nodded. “Perhaps it would be better if....”

“Lizzie won’t want to talk about it.”

“She does not want to alarm you, that’s all.”

“Yeah.” Lydia smiled tightly, familiar guilt stabbing at her chest. “I kind of suck at dealing with things.”

“No. Lizzie does not believe that.” 

He spoke so earnestly that she raised her head and looked at him – really looked at him. His expression was unfamiliar, somehow both younger and wearier than before.

“It’s how she copes,” he said. “Her fears would overwhelm her otherwise. She needs to take care of you.” He glanced down, self-conscious. “And I need to take care of her.”

Lydia didn’t know whether she should feel accepted into his confidence or feel like a jerk. She went with accepted. Upstairs there were footsteps, doors creaking. She traced a crack in the counter with her fingertip. “How old were you? When ... you know.”

“Twenty. Gigi was fourteen.”

They sat in silence that was not quite comfortable but not unbearable either, waiting for Lizzie to come down. She appeared with her hair braided over her shoulder, her suit replaced with old clothes dug out of a box in her closet. 

Lydia hopped down from her chair and wrapped her arms around her sister. “Hey.”

“Mm, good hug,” Lizzie mumbled. She yawned, then pulled back to play with the ends of Lydia’s hair. “Getting kind of long, sis.”

“I was thinking of cutting it,” Lydia shrugged. “Maybe the Miley Cyrus look.”

Lizzie looked mildly horrified. “You wouldn’t.”

“And, like, bleached with purple tips and stuff. It’ll be awesome.”

“Don’t you _dare_.”

“Whatever, you’re not the boss of me.” Lydia bumped Lizzie with her shoulder and padded across the kitchen to look for cereal. 

Lizzie turned to Darcy, pointing at her. “See, she does it on purpose,” she said. There was a real smile on her face.

***

Later, as Lizzie was holding her father’s hand and declaring that, wait and see, he would be back home and getting on his wife’s nerves before he knew it, he squeezed her fingers and murmured, “My brave girl, are you doing all right?” Caught off guard, she couldn’t stop her mouth from trembling.

“I’m not that brave,” she said in a tiny voice; but Lydia leaned over the back of her chair. “She totally is. You know her, she’s a superhero.”

Lizzie laughed, leaning her head against Lydia’s. “You’re the one who wants purple hair.”


End file.
